Julie Millett, who was appointed as the Whitehall town clerk in January 2008 and was elected to the post the following November, will be stepping down from the position at the end of this week.

“My mother-in-law is going through a lot of stuff with cancer, so there are a lot of personal reasons why I am resigning,” said Millett. “I decided that I am going to stay home with her.”

At the organizational meeting of the Whitehall Town Board, the councilmen appointed Elaine Jones to serve as Millet’s deputy clerk, and Jones will now work in her stead until a decision on a permanent replacement is made.

“Elaine has come in and spent a couple of days with me,” said Millett. “She will be able to fill in until the board decides what’s going on.”

Millett was appointed to serve as the town clerk at a time when the town was undergoing an investigation by the New York state comptroller’s office and needed to get a better hold on its financial record keeping practices.

“I tried to get things organized,” said Millett. “I have been able to produce a town clerk manual for how licenses should be done and I have tried to cover everything and I have worked with Elaine and the board to understand what the monthly reports are and how they are created.”

“She did an excellent job,” said former Town Supervisor Vernon Scribner, who was on the board when Millett was appointed. “I can’t say enough good things about the job she did to come in at a time when we really needed someone to come in and fix some things.”

Current Town Supervisor Richard “Geezer” Gordon said he was appreciative of the work she had done and that the board is looking at options for a replacement.